Somatosensory amplification (SSA) is a tendency to perceive normal somatic and visceral sensations as being relatively intense, disturbing and noxious.
The term "amplification of bodily sensations"[5] was coined by Dr. Arthur J. Barsky in 1979[5] to explain why patients with the same medical disease experienced symptoms differently.
[6] A review conceptualises SSA as an amplification of internal and external stimuli which are perceived as threatening to the body's integrity.
It states that SSA involves an emotional and automatic response to stimuli which leads them to be perceived as threatening, giving rise to worries and anxiety.
and changes in heart rate; 2) benign dysfunctions and trivial, self-limited infirmities such as transient tinnitis, a twitching eyelid, or dry skin; 3) the visceral and somatic concomitants of intense affect, such as the sympathetic arousal accompanying anxiety; and 4) the symptoms of serious nonpsychiatric medical disease and end-organ pathology.
[6][9] From an individual perspective, an unstable attachment style or early adverse experiences may enhance an infant's threat-detection mechanism, this then becoming internalised despite losing its adaptive value.
[6] SSA is linked to anxiety and depression,[6][8] as well as idiopathic environmental intolerances (IEI), expectations and intensity of symptoms, side effects, and modern health worries (MHWs).
[6] According to a study, "Our results suggest that SSA may be involved in the development of nocebo effects through an increased internal focus, elevated subjective symptom report, and anxiety.
Furthermore, it may facilitate understanding of the placebo effect, and why some patients are unaware of their symptoms and seek treatment for their illness late ("minimizers").